A note on Tiger specific Ford Part numbers.

D

Duke Mk1a

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This information was generated from discussion on the for sale area in regards to a distributor for sale. The discussion focuses on the "Z" designation in the Z5TF-12127 -C part number. I asked the Ford V8 guru Bob Mannel about it.

Here is his reply -

Duke,

I did a little more digging. As I mentioned in my book introduction, I stayed away from non-production applications of the Ford small block V8. Since the book has been published I have looked more at some of these other applications.

In the case of the Sunbeam Tiger, Ford continued to make 260 V8s for two more years after it concluded its 1964 production use of the engine. The Tigers got many updated parts for its 1965 and 1966 260 V8s. Contrary to convention, these 1965 and later engines were not leftover 1964 versions.
Casting number date codes continue to reflect actual manufacturing beyond
1964 production.

The letter Z was not related to the Tiger. Tiger-unique parts with Ford part numbers used a J in the third position. For example C4JZ is a Tiger part number. You will notice in my book on page D-5, the normal 260 distributors (C4OF-12127-A and C4OF-12127-B) were replaced by
1965 versions (C5JF-12127-C and C5JF-12127-B). These are Sunbeam Tiger engineering numbers (J in third position).

Digging deeper, I checked the cross-reference books which given part numbers their engineering number application. For distributors, this cross-reference has provide highly reliable.
C4OZ-12127-A is for a 260 V8 with manual transmission:
. C4OF-12127-A (used on 1964 production 260V V8s)
. C5JF-12127-C (shown as a 1965 replacement)
. Z5TF-12127-C (only shown in the OSI) C4OZ-12127-B is for a 260 V8 with automatic
. C4OF-12127-B (used on 1964 production 260V V8s)
. C5JF-12127-B (shown as a 1965 replacement)

Tigers all had 4-speeds. So, I am inclined to agree that the Z5TF-12127-C is exclusive to the Tiger, although I would not go so far as to say that that is why a Z was used as its first letter. Otherwise, there would not have been a Z5AF-12127-B distributor to replace the 289-4V C4ZF-12127-C distributor, an engine the Tiger never had or was intended to have.

Another thing to keep in mind is that Mexico began 260 V8 and 289 production in 1965 and ran through 1967. The 260 V8 was used in Mexican Falcons and light trucks. The 289 was used in B-600 and F600 trucks as well as Mexican Galaxies and Mustangs. So, it is possible (but I don't know) that the Z5TF distributor got its designation from the light trucks (T for truck) and the Z5AF from the Mexican Galaxie (A for Galaxie), and the Z is for Mexico. All just speculation.

Feel free to use any of this in your discussions on the Sunbeam forum.

Bob Mannel


Good information I did not want to be lost in the for sale section.
 
Merge

It seems we have dueling opinions Gilles with R. Fraser and the one Duke posted. We can merge the two threads as soon as the author comes back with a sold or response.


Not taking any sides on this one just want to get the discussion into one place as well. I don't think I can mess it up too badly. :eek:


I do like the industrial engine cheap line of reasoning along with a slice of w/e they had handy was used logic.
 
The 4 digit prefix on Ford part numbers are:

Digit 1 - Decade; C=1960, D=1970, E=1980, etc.
Digit 2 - Year; C4=1965, C5=1965, etc.
Digit 3 - Vehicle Model; Z=Mustang, etc.
Digit 4 - Design Responsibility; F=Electronic, E=Engine, etc.

In digit 4, both Z and J represent Parts & Service, so these would be parts that weren't used in normal production. They were typically for service replacement, but you also sometimes see them used in applications like power products or outside sales.

Note that the part number is based on the original application, so if something was designed for the 1964 Mustang (C4Z_) but was continued to be used in later years and other models without a design change, it would keep the C4Z part number.

The Z for Digit 1 is a new one to me.

I used to work for Ford and have a lot of documentation about the part numbering system. I'll have to dig it out and see if I can find out anything about that.
 
while you're at it...

See if you can find out what "S.O." number means...SO-2632 is stamped on the valve cover stickers of Tigers.
 
Didn't find anything on the Z. It is possible that it has something to do with a part from Mexico, but I can't say either way.

What I have covers 1989-up; the system was the same before that, back to the 40's, but the product line codes and design responsibility codes sometimes changed as models were added or deleted and departments were rearranged. In 1999 we went to a single-digit year code (X=1999, Y=2000, 1=2001, 9= 2009, A=2010, B=2011, etc.) so the product line could be expanded to 2 digits (R3=Mustang, L2=Explorer, etc.)

A few relevant highlights:

3rd digit
T Light Truck/Bronco
Z Mustang
J Power products (engines sold for industrial uses, boats, etc.)
F Outside Sales

4th digit
J Parts and Service - Parts/Accessories
L Parts and Service - Power Products
Z Parts and Service

More tidbits.

Anything that ends with a Z (Ford) or Y (Lincoln/Mercury) is a "service" part number. This is a separate system used by parts & service for the purpose of cataloging service parts. This is the number that appears on the box and in the parts catalogs. The part itself always has an engineering part number (ending in something else) that is mapped to the service number. This is done because the service system is much simplified from the production system. It uses a limited group of base part numbers, and doesn't need to follow all the revision controls that the engineering system does. So, in the distributor example below, the single service number can be mapped to multiple engineering numbers as they get revised. A lot of times there are different engineering part numbers where the difference isn't relevant to service. For example, a particular distributor might have different versions that are set for different engines with various vac advances or spring/weight combos, but in service they are sold without those parts so a single P/N is the replacement for any of them.

The middle, or base part number defines what the part is. It is extremely detailed and well organized, to the point that if you are familiar with the system you can look at a part number and know in general what it is. 1xxx is wheels and tires, 2xxx is brakes, 3xxx is steering, etc. Then within the groups it is divided up even more. 6xxx is engine; 6000-6099 is blocks and heads. 6100-6199 is pistons and rings. 6200-6249 is rods and bearings...

The suffix is the revision control. The first letter signifies parts that are interchangeable. So maybe -A is for a 6cyl, -B is for a 8cyl, -C is for a hi-po. By interchangeable I mean that they are the same part. Different wheel styles may all fit, but they would be different letters. The second letter is the revision of a backwards compatible part. So if an -AA part is revised it becomes -AB. The -AB can be used to replace the -AA.

No idea on the SO number. I imagine it has something to do with being a "special order" batch of engines, rather than for a production car.
 
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